CYTOKINE secretion - assay or PCR?

[Bronwyn Venus]

On Tue, 6 Feb 1996, M. Doherty wrote:

{cut}
> 
> To sum it up - if you want to just measure a few cytokines occasionally,
> ELISA is probably going to give you less headaches.  If you are going to
> get into cytokine measurement seriously, I would go for PCR, but use
> ELISAs and or bioassay as a backup to ensure that the cytokine message you
> see actually relates to anything of biological.
> 
> Be aware that both ELISA and PCR have significant costs in consumables. 
> Unless you are rolling in loot, DON'T buy commercial ELISA kits, unless
> you know you only need to assay a very small number of samples.  It is
> much cheaper to buy/beg/borrow/steal the antibodies you need and optimise
> the assays yourself.  Once that's done, you can aliquot and freeze the
> reagents and you'll have a lot of assays for a much lower cost.  There is
> plenty of expertise available in setting ELISAs up, so don't be afraid to
> ask.
> 
> Cheers, Mark


Mark
I just replied to this mailing before I read what you had to say.  I 
found it very interesting and will keep your address on file for future 
use!
I agree with most of what you had to say!
Thanks for saying it much better than I!
Bronwyn> 

****************
Bronwyn Venus
Animal Research Institute
665 Fairfield Road
Yeerongpilly QLD 4105

E-mail: venusb at planet.mh.dpi.qld.gov.au